News feminist philosophers can use

Day: September 29, 2008

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Thom Brooks (Newcastle) compiles a list of the A*, A, and B journals from the [Australian Philosophical Association] exercise. The A* list isn’t bad, apart from some dubious inclusions (probably meant to pander to this-or-that interest group) like Hypatia, Political Theory, and Philosophy East and West. (The best work in feminist philosophy, for example, has surely appeared in many of the other A* journals, not in Hypatia, and important work in political philosophy–the kind that engages philosophers–rarely appears in Political Theory.)

Surely the best work in feminist philosophy is published in top mainstream journals all the time! Surely! Mere introspection reveals this. Sadly, however, very little feminist philosophy makes it into mainstream journals, as we’ve often discussed here. (Seeking confirmation? Check out Sally Haslanger’s paper.) Many feminist philosophers who work in multiple areas of the subject have reported that their feminist work (unlike their other work) is regularly refused without even going to a referee. And when it does go to a referee, the reports often fail to engage it at all, sometimes simply insisting that nobody could possibly care about such issues.

It’s fantastic that the Australian list is giving Hypatia the recognition it deserves. Now if we can just get others to stop dismissing it. (Thanks to Cynthia for the heads-up!)

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In the run up to Equal Pay Day on the 30th Oct, Fawcett Society have an open letter to John Hutton MP (in the UK), Sec state for business enterprise and regulatory reform. In it, there are recommendations for closing the 17% gender pay gap, such as regular checks to monitor for inequalities (which would presumably help address other inequalities too, such as those Jender writes of here).